Marco Rubio’s angling prompts some Gang of Eight angst

The Senate’s Gang of Eight is out in force to sell its immigration bill to the public, minus one pivotal member: Marco Rubio.

The Florida Republican has spent hours strategizing in private with the bipartisan group of senators, but he hasn’t appeared in public with them since late April — nixing requests for press conferences after the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the immigration bill, according to Democrats, and most recently, for a joint interview on Univision.

It’s a Senate trial by fire. Rubio is attempting to master a treacherous legislative process that has confounded lawmakers with decades of experience. The success or failure of the immigration overhaul bill will largely determine whether his efforts are seen as the shrewd mechanisms of a kingmaker or the political naiveté of a third-year senator.

While he criticizes parts of the Gang of Eight plan, Rubio has also had trouble on the right when he tries to defend it. He had to make a quick phone call to Rush Limbaugh last week to clarify a remark that had been interpreted by conservatives as a flip-flop.

“Everything I’m saying, I’m saying to everyone,” Rubio told POLITICO. “I’m just trying to get a law passed. In order to get a law to pass, the border security and the benefits have to get tightened up. Everyone here knows that. Anyone who denies that is not playing in reality.”

Rubio even demurred when asked whether he would unite with the group to defeat contentious amendments on the floor: “It depends on the amendment.”

Alex Conant, a Rubio spokesman, denied that the senator has consciously made an effort to avoid being seen with the group. But it’s been almost two months since Rubio appeared at a public event with the Gang, which includes Democrats like Chuck Schumer of New York and Dick Durbin of Illinois, and two Republicans who have long been the scourge of conservative immigration activists, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Democrats — particularly Schumer — have been willing to kowtow to the Floridian’s demands, even if it shifts the bill further to the right by including amendments like those from Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) to restrict benefits for undocumented immigrants. Privately, the worry is Rubio may upend the delicate compromise they spent months trying to reach.

“The members feel like they’ve given him quite a bit of rope,” said one Senate Democratic aide familiar with the group’s deliberations. “They just want to make sure it doesn’t end up hanging the deal at the end.”

Almost immediately after the Judiciary Committee sent the bill to the floor, Rubio began panning its enforcement provisions, validating criticism from the right and forcing the gang to appear amenable to changes. But what has irritated members in the Gang has been his explicit embrace of the border security amendment from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).